Metallic articles, such as turbine blades, impellers, and other engine components, may be welded and/or alloyed with various repair alloys. In some cases, the repair alloys may be welded to the component by employing a laser welding apparatus, such as an automated laser cladding system. Typically, an automated laser cladding system includes a laser beam system and a powder feed apparatus. The laser beam system is configured to provide a laser beam and to focus the laser beam at a particular repair surface. The intensity, location, and/or motion of the laser beam may be computer-controlled or manually controlled. The powder feed apparatus may include a powder source and a nozzle that is configured to deliver the powder to a particular location. In some configurations, the nozzle may be directed to substantially the same location of the repair surface as the laser beam.
During repair, the laser beam from the laser beam apparatus melts a relatively small volume of the repair surface to form a molten pool. The powder feed apparatus simultaneously supplies a repair alloy powder from the powder source at a controlled volume into the molten pool. Particles of the repair alloy powder become dispersed throughout the molten pool to thereby alter, complement, and/or add to a composition of the component.
Although the above-described laser welding apparatus are adequate, they may be improved. In particular, the powder feed apparatus of the laser welding apparatus typically includes complex parts, which may become worn over time. As a result, the parts may need to be replaced and/or may need repair. However, because numerous parts make up the powder feed apparatus, the apparatus may be relatively difficult and/or time-consuming to repair. In some cases, repair of a powder feed apparatus may take hours. Consequently, the laser welding apparatus may experience an undesirably long downtime during which component repairs may not be made.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a powder feed apparatus having a simpler design that conventional powder feed apparatus. In addition, it is desirable for the improved powder feed apparatus to be capable of delivering powder at a substantially uniform and/or constant rate. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the inventive subject matter will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the inventive subject matter and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the inventive subject matter.